Baby Number Three
by semisweetsoul
Summary: Never question a psychic dream! Written for the family 15 challenge, prompt #2 happy additions.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the show I'm just writing about it. This is a story based upon the fictional Dubois family.

**Author's Notes: **Written for the Family 15 challenge, prompt # 2: Happy Additions. Hope you'll like it.

* * *

**Baby number three**

"Joe?"

"Yeah, sweetheart what is it?" Joseph Dubois barely raised an eyebrow at his wife Allison, he had just started his computer and was about to check his emails.

"I was just thinking... and... are you listening to me?" She said slightly upset, waving to him as if they were more than a few inches away.

Joe knew Allison too well to challenge her by continuing what he was doing on the Internet, therefore he reluctantly decided his mailbox would wait some more time to be checked and emptied.

"Sorry, hon! I'm all yours!" Joe responded putting his laptop on the floor by his bedside table.

Allison jumped on the bed and sat cross-legged to face her husband. He was alerted when her sparkling blue eyes stared at him without her uttering a word. Joe's look clearly showed incomprehension.

"Joe, umm... I think it's time."

"Okay, umm...time for what?" He questioned.

Allison smiled. Joe had that little grin she found so adorable. Each time he lost track of a conversation she initiated, just like someone else would bite his lip, he would smile like he laughed within, some could see it as a sign of contempt but not Allison, not his wife for almost ten years, she knew it was some kind of reflex not to let his true emotions show, not to hurt her feelings.

"Time for baby number three?"

The grin suddenly changed into a surprised expression and this time Allison despite her strong intuitions could not say whether her suggestion would be approved.

"Joe? Aren't you gonna say something?" Allison uttered shyly. Not sure which card she should be playing, she decided to break the silence: "Well, I'm just saying I want to have another child and I think it's the right time, and who knows, maybe we'll get the son you've always wanted."

"I … I don't know Al, I have to say I'm a bit shocked, after what you went through the last time I thought you didn't want another child and I had come around to the idea."

Allison felt her heart break; she was forced to admit they were not on the same wavelength, at least on that particular subject.

"I know! That's okay! I mean, at least I know where you stand." Her voice was filled with too much disappointment for Joe not to notice.

"Hey, babe. It's not a categorical no! Let's say it's open to discussion. If having another child can make you happy… then, why not? I mean, I just need some time to think about it. And go see my boss and ask for a raise!"

"You can't help it, can you?"

They smiled at each other, Joe was just so rational and down-to-earth, not the kind of person to let any place whatsoever to unplanned elements in his life and certainly not an unplanned baby.

"Now, tell me, where is this coming from?"

"I … umm … I dreamt I was having a baby."

"No, you didn't!"

"Yes, but don't worry, I took a pregnancy test and it was negative."

Joe was visibly relieved by this new piece of information, but she didn't take it into account.

"Everything in the dream seemed so… so... –"

"So …" Joe repeated mockingly the grin coming back on the corner of his mouth.

"Perfect!" Allison answered shaking as she reminisced about the dream that had been invading her thoughts for the last three days.

"Of course, a child that has your special family heritage and my brain can only be perfect, among other things!" Joe laughed light-heartedly but Allison punched him in the shoulder for what she took in as an insensitive comment.

"Hey!" Joe protested.

"I'm serious I just felt this was it, what we missed, that final blessing you know! Maybe it's only because I've always wanted three children or because three is my lucky number or I don't know… I want to have another child I don't know what else to say, Joe."

Joe realizing how much his wife seemed unsettled by the whole situation had to know: "Al, The test you took… did you want it to be positive?"

But the only response Allison was able to make was nodding and wiping with her sleeve the tear that threatened to flow on her rosy cheek. When she started to weep, he pulled her closer to him to console her from her unforeseen and disconcerting disillusion.

"This must have been a memorable dream for you to cry over something as immaterial as a baby we're not sure will turn out to be a Dubois that is, if it exists someday!"

Allison pushed him away then looked at her husband in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm unfaithful, that I've been cheating on you?"

"What? No! Al!" Joe strongly countered. "What has gotten into you? Okay, umm… let's review: you dream you are having a baby, okay! Are you a hundred percent sure _you_ delivered that baby? Because, tell me if I'm wrong, but sometimes you think you're involved but you're not! I'm just saying we can't be sure unless you can give me details to backup your assumption, otherwise I say it could have been about anyone."

Joe was expecting her to say something, enumerate her different points but she remained speechless. He was right, once again. She realized that nothing in her dream enabled her to claim she was the pregnant woman. It could as well be a metaphor she had to decipher.

Perhaps for once this was a real dream like ordinary people had every night or so, a way out for her mind to let go of her unconscious and repressed fantasies and desires. And apparently, her wish was simply having another baby, unfortunately it wasn't her husband's, she could bet his was getting a big promotion or making a revolutionary discovery and win the Nobel Prize for it.

Joe's words brought her back to reality. She had overreacted but Joe knew it wasn't deliberate.

"I'm sorry," she whispered gently.

She was inconsolable and her vulnerability moved Joe. At that precise moment, Joe realized he too wanted another kid, was it a spontaneous decision, certainly, but sometimes he could allow himself some spontaneity too. Allison's desire deserved to be gratified.

He had intuitions, not on a regular basis, just a presentiment, from time to time, more like a chill or a feeling of déjà vu but seeing her baring her soul to him, he felt his only wish was to make her happy. That's when he knew they'd end up having another baby sooner or later.

Joe didn't know it would happen sooner than he had imagined. The next morning Allison was pregnant and Marie would come into the world just as she had dreamt.

THE END


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